Wednesday 29 May 2013

Pretty Water Lily

Water Lily Sympathy
Hey!

Happy Wednesday! Can't quite believe that it's Wednesday already...I do love a Bank Holiday, but it's makin' my week off zoom by before my very eyes!

Today's card is not one I've created recently. In fact, I'd give anything to go get inky as it's been about 2 weeks since the stamps have seen the ink. Instead, today's card is one that I shared on my Featured Artist post on Paper Crafter's Library. 

Whenever I play with vellum I find myself saying "Why don't I play with this stuff more often?" I love how deceivingly delicate it looks, whilst it's a material that can really take a beating. I decided to stamp and emboss on this piece of vellum and colour that stunning water lily with some basic pencil crayons (no fancy schmancy pencil crayons - I don't own any...yet!)

tips and tricks
  • Try not to handle vellum too much before heat embossing on it. It increases the chances of stray powder sticking where you don't want it.
  • For a more subtle effect, colour on the reverse side of the vellum.
  • When using an adhesive with vellum I like to apply a dry one sparingly under the more intensely coloured areas of the vellum to prevent it showing through.
For a final touch, I covered my vellum water lily with a clear Sakura glitter gel pen. It makes the water lily shimmer and sparks so much! My pic doesn't capture it, but I'm hoping you can imagine just how pretty a sparkly water lily is.  :)

With Deepest Sympathy

Right then, it' already Wednesday so I've gotta get movin' if I'm to tackle any of my to do list during my week off! But before I dash, I have some news for you Clearly Besotted Stamps fans AND Uniko Studio Fans:

  • A selection of Clearly Besotted Stamps goodies are now available at Simon Says Stamp! Brilliant news for you US peeps who want to get your hands on the goodies quickly. You may also find a few sets that are out of stock on the CBS store available over there too....*wink*
  • Uniko Studio made last Saturday a 'Free Saturday' which means that this gorgeous digi set is up for grabs, for free!
Enough of the stampy news updates for now, this gal has got to get busy (and, fingers crossed, inky too!)

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Friday 24 May 2013

My kinda maths....

Love
Hey!

Happy Friday! Happy half-term (for me anyway!) :)

Today is my spot as a guest designer over at the Sweet Stamp Shop. I'm sharing a few extra projects made with the new stamps from May's release.

Now Maths was never my strong point, but today's card is the kinda maths I likey! Admitedly my guy hasn't got a mustache though...I wonder if I should persuade him to grow one so I can give this card to him?!

tips and tricks
  • Add little details to small images to give them more 'oomph'! I added glossy accents to the lips, white lines to the mustache and a mini-gem to the heart. 
  • I used an impression plate on my card base to add more texture (it's hard to see in the pic), but I always stamp my sentiments before impresing my pattern so I have an even texture to stamp on.  
Next up is a fun (well, it's fun to me!) interactive card. I do love to make them when I've got the time, and it's even better when it's a super easy one to make.
you're perfect

Simply lift up the lever to reveal the message this card conveys in two simple words:

You're Perfect 2

Hee! So simple! Just thread a brad through a strip of cardstock (I folded mine over so it would hide the brad) to create a lever and have a little message/image waiting behind the object your moving.

tips and tricks

  • I was originaly going to stamp the eye chart in a grey ink, but it was too dark and took the focus (pun not intended there, but I'll take it anyway - ha!) from the 20/20 sentiment. So cue some clear embossing - works like a charm for subtle elements.
  • Stamp anything you want to sit on your embossed elements in black/coloured ink first and let that ink dry before embossing larger elements on top with clear ink and powder.
That's all from me today, but before I scoot I just wanted to give you a heads up that the Sweet Stamp Shop is having a DT Call. Take a peek and get that sweet application in! Oh, and one more thing: A big thanks to Nicole for having me as a Guest Designer this month. Thanks, Nicole I had a super sweet time! :D

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you have a great weekeend!

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Monday 20 May 2013

Moxie Fab? Moi?! ;D

Happy Birthday Crafty Girl
Hey!

Happy Monday! I hope you're all OK. I've been MIA as I'm buried deep in paperwork right now, but I'm just squeezing in a few spare moments to share some pretty cool news that I've been sat on for what feels like an age. Oh and I'm also sharing a card with you as well of course - what else?! Today's card was created a while back for a Passion for Papertrey challenge that has now ended (sorry!).

The challenege was to create your own background and I couldn't resist giving some inky love to a much neglected PTI set: Studio Style. The buttons in the set just called to be used as a background in one way or another.

I also added a bit more interest to my design by clear embossing a jar of buttons. It looks way more effective for real, you'll just have to take my word for it!

Crafty Girl Close Up

tips and tricks
  •  I added a few dots of Glossy Accents to keep the twine flowing in a whimsical kinda style. Do the same to yours to make it behave!
  • When embossing over a sentiment, be sure to stamp your sentiment first and let that ink dry thoroughly before stamping and embossing any images over the top. If you don't, embossing powder could stick to your sentiment or if you emboss first, you won't have an even surface to stamp your sentiment on.
Before click away and I dash to hit the folders of work again, it's not only a super busy Monday here but a super happy one too: I've been honoured with the title of Moxie Fabber of the Week! Check it out if you're interested. I owe one mega-HUGE thanks to the amazing and totally Moxie Fab Cath for the shout out! Thanks Cath, you rock! :D

And you rock too of course! Thank you so much for visiting today. Cue normal blogging schedule and visits around Blogland after this final week of term - I promise! :)

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Products Used




Tuesday 14 May 2013

Gettin' sweet...and weird!

Weird Love
Hey!

Happy Tuesday! It's a particularly 'sweet' Tuesday here on the blogeroo as I'm hopping on board this month as a guest designer for Sweet Stamp Shop!

Today is release day and three super sets have been released. I was sent two of them to play with: Eye Love and Weird Love.

The card above features some weird love. Never thought I'd type/say that here....ha! But fear not, this is no weird set, but a sweet (what else?) mini-set featuring a lovely sentiment that pretty much sums up how I feel about my fiance and I: we're both a little weird...and I can't quite believe our luck that we found each other and fit together so perfectly (altogether now: awwwww!) The heart is stamped from the set 'Eye Love' and is covered in a good dollop of Glossy Accents.

So enough weird love, how about some eye love? Yup, the name kinda sums up the set: love with a focus on some items you may just find at the opticitans. However I went for something a little more....geeky! :)

Ion U

The set has this oval shape and as soon as I saw it I thought 'atom'! Then I got thinking 'ion'! And this led to the pun 'ion U' as in, 'I've got my eye on you...' I just stamped and rotated the oval to create the atom shape, adding red dots with a marker and stamping the 'U' from the set in the centre.

Now as I understand it, an atom can be an ion, but not all ions are atoms. I didn't have time to hit the science textbooks to research it! So my escape from any geek design faux pas I may have unintentionally created, was to stamp the inside with another sentiment from the same stamp set.

genius

Now if you subscribe to this being a mini card with an atom, it'll read U....genius. And if you subscribe to it being an ion then the card will read 'ion U...genius'! It's win/win in my book! :)

That's all from me today! I'll be back later on in the month with a couple more projects to share featuring these sets, but for now be sure pop across to the Sweet Stamp Shop blog for more inspiration!

Thanks so much for stopping by here today! Wishing you all a 'sweet' Tuesday!

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Products Used




Copyright/Disclosure

I am on various design teams and receive free product to use and promote. I geniunely love the products of the companies and all opinons are honest and my own.

I'm flattered if I've inspired you and you want to CASE anything of mine, but please don't enter it for commercial publications or competitions.
Thank You!
All designs, text, and photographs on Crafting Confessions are ©2009-2016 to Amy Gray unless stated otherwise.